Good morning everyone and welcome back to the breakroom. We have officially made it all the way to Friday so the only question left is if we can make it to the weekend without any serious incident. Let us jump into the day and see if we can make it!
Unfortunately, we were not able to make it very far before Michael had to create a whole ordeal in the office. He happened to look out the window and see a man walking towards the office; he happened to appear Middle Eastern and was wearing a turban. I’m not sure why he assumed he was coming here but he quickly turned out the lights and had everyone act like the office was empty. Turns out we were expecting this gentleman and as Michael pointed out, he did not make a great first impression with our new IT guy. I really do not feel like I need to point out what was so wrong with what Michael did but I suppose I must given that this might go over some heads. Michael saw someone who looked Middle Eastern, in traditional dress from their culture, and immediately went to terrorist. We should not profile or stereotype people we meet and should instead use a little common sense.
Once the new IT guy, Sadiq, was finally able to make his way into the office we find out a bit more about what he is even doing here. Turns out Michael has been trying to load a new program on his computer but had difficulties doing so, and specifically requested him to come into the office to assist. Evidently Michael’s struggle was that he couldn’t access the software because it was password protected; which he was simply required to enter his own password to access the software. It took Sadiq about two seconds to get this resolved, mainly because Michael had his password (1234) listed on a Post-It attached to his computer monitor. This brings up some good points about the importance of password security.
Regarding physical storage of a password, it is important to not leave a password out if you work in an office setting since anyone could walk by and instantly have your information. There are phone apps out which are specifically meant to be used as a place to document your log-in information with these apps normally protected themselves with their own layers of security to ensure no one can get in there easily. Technically, other options could be writing them down in a personal planner that you always have on you but this is not recommended since someone could still access it. Personally, if you do this planner variation I would recommend incorporating some sort of code to ensure the purpose is not easily detected. An example could be using a series of images to represent your password. Example: I decide to make my password BlueDog@1234 and to leave myself a reminder I could draw an image of a paw print (Dog), with an arrow point (@) at the phrase ‘first house’ (1234) which is the street address of my first house. This was also all written in blue marker (blue); while these are pretty obvious clues, they are examples of of the sorts of hints you can leave yourself as a reminder for a new password.
It can be very easy for us to disregard the importance of creating a complex password given we are most concerned about logging into our computers as easily as possible. What we do not think about is how many hackers are trying to access company servers. This can provide banking and financial information that can be used, other sensitive information can be sold on the black market, or simply holding the data for ransom until the company pays out. Of the most important roles of the IT (information technology) department is to keep the company servers as secure as possible and this includes setting up password requirements. Per an article through the Harvard Business Review by Luke Bencie and Sydney Williams, they actually have broken down password requirements into five different levels which showcase the levels of security1. These are arranged as:
Level One: A throwaway password, often consisting of a very familiar word and is most often associated with assigning to accounts no one cares about. You might see this with one off accounts you create with HBO just to cash in on a free week of viewing before you cancel. An example offered is Frodo218!.
Level Two: This is known as a password phrase; rather than a one word password you make one out of a series of word to offer a bit more security. These can look like everystepitake or overtherainbow. While these will not turn your account into Fort Know, this next level of complexity is still better than the one word password.
Level Three: A password phrase which uses a pattern, this can be seen as the next stage of from the former. This method is meant to be used across multiple accounts where you use a formula so the passwords are similar enough to be recalled, but still different. An example would openBlue&715! for Facebook and then openGreen&715! for Twitter. Using the same formula but different colors so they are not the exact same password being used across these venues.
Level Four: Quickly becoming the standard you might be familiar with, this level uses a password phrase alongside a two-factor authentication. This method requires you to enter your secure password, but then have a second method of verification which most often includes typing in a one-time code sent to you via email, phone call, or text message.
Level Five: Finally, we have password manager software coupled with a two-factor authentication. The benefit of the software is it helps prevent an employee leaking out their standard password because it is too complex. I personally have never used such software so I have yet to encounter this particular level.
While these are simply recommended levels for companies to view the security of passwords as, they do help showcase the differences of passwords which we use and see. Hopefully the next time you see an email sent out by your IT department talking about the importance of password security, you respect their role with the company and do your best to ensure you are secure.
Sadiq is ultimately able to help Michael get his program sent out, and is kind enough to send out a memo to the office to tell us that Michael has had email surveillance installed in the office which means he will be able to monitor our emails. I personally am surprised that this wasn’t already in place since it very common for companies to be able to monitor our emails and internet history. When one is using company technology (phone, computer, internet) you should fully expect that your company can look at what you are doing so you should be wary of what you do on them that deviates from your standard work. The biggest improper use involves porn or other inappropriate usage, but most companies will have site blockers in place which should prevent you from evening being able to go to these sites. The simplest rule is to simply save any personal usage for your personal computer or phone so nothing improper could be traced back to you. For those of you leaders and company owners, while monitoring your employees might sound simple there can actually be different laws which could impact your security that you should be aware of. According to an article by the Society of Human Resources Management, it is important to do the legal research before starting these searches. For starters, it should be made clear to employees that their company technologies can be monitored because secretly tracking employees very rarely results in a positive outcome. We see this pattern with phone calls with how it must be disclosed that the call “may be recorded and monitored” which then allows those calls to be saved for future use if needed. Additionally, many monitoring laws are determined at a state level which means if you operate across multiple states you should be aware of the differences. While it is your right as an employer to monitor the technology use of your employees on company resources, do not try to do this without performing the necessary due diligence in reviewing the laws surrounding these practices2.
While most companies would use email surveillance to ensure their employees are not talking with competitors or misusing their resources, Michael is simply nosey with what his employees are doing. He first looks for messages pertaining to his name, and he quickly finds out Stanley has been complaining about him. After that, he found that Jim was hosting a barbecue that evening and had sent out an evite to everyone in the office. Everyone, that is, except for Michael. At that, Michael seems to have completely forgotten about his new “toy” in being able to read emails and it became it mission to get an invitation to Jim’s party that evening. He joined several people at lunch in an attempt to convince them that his parties in college were always more fun when the professors came; the logic being a work party would be more fun with the boss. This a pretty obvious ploy with everyone catching on pretty fast and passed it on to the rest of the office to keep it secret from Michael. Everyone was on board and adamantly did not tell Michael about the party, even Dwight kept his lips shut. Although, Jim had told him that this was a surprise party for Michael which is why he was so on board.
The evening rolled around and we all showed up at Jim’s place for his barbecue, and he certainly went out of his way to line up a good time. He had Canadian beer, karaoke, hot dogs and burgers and a he arranged for Michael to not be there. I don’t normally socialize with everyone out of work, and it’s evident that I wasn’t the only one. Jim didn’t seem to realize that Angela is vegetarian so there was no food set aside for her; if you are arranging such an event, be prepared for any dietary requirements for people. There was then Oscar and Stanley talking shop, but Kelly was quick tell them they should be able to find something to talk about other than work. While these events are meant to be separate from the office, there are some people who prefer to talk about work most of the time. This can be because they know they have little else in common with their colleagues, or it can mean they are attempting to maintain that separation between work and home. Of course, then I overheard Pam and Phyllis talking about “office romances” and that brings up the topic of gossiping about work out of the office which is a slippery slope. I found an article through Indeed which concerns the pros and cons associated with socializing with colleagues outside of work. There are certainly benefits which include developing stronger relationships, built a greater level of support between one another, and offer more satisfaction with work in being friends with your colleagues. But, there are also cons associated with this. Some of the biggest is that some employees do prefer to have a sense of privacy and professionalism with their colleagues. For instance, my personality and language outside of work is vastly different than I portray at work. And even though I might be socializing out of the office, I know that things I might say could make their way back to the office. For those looking to arrange events to socialize out of the office, do your best to make the event as accommodating to people as possible if you are trying to set up as a neutral event for them. And for those invited, it is absolutely okay to not be best friends with your coworkers and hang out every weekend. That being said, it truly is good to be friendly with them so it may require going out to barbecue or dinner once a a year to maintain that relationship3.
That being said, I do know that all of the work events I’ve normally gone to have included our boss so I never had to experience someone like Michael Scott barging in, uninvited, like that before. But each work place is different so there will be offices that you do not want to socialize with your leader. That being said, if you are looking to help keep the event professional, nothing sets everyone’s behavior on being good like having the boss there.
And with that, we have officially made it to the weekend with only a few incidents if you will. What can we walk away with having learned this week? Well, you should always assume your work communication can be traced so be wary of what you do on your computer and email at the office. But if you are the big brother trying to watch your employees, do your homework before trying to catch them making a mistake. Socializing out of the office, while not a requirement can have some benefits to it; some downsides, too. And most importantly, let’s support our colleagues in IT and put more effort into our passwords and security. With that, after this fun evening I will absolutely be sleeping in this weekend and I hope you all have a fun weekend with no work-related interruptions. Until next time, I’ll be sure to see you around the breakroom.
Remembering passwords is absolutely the worst, especially once we have to set up as a new one. Do you have any tips on deciding passwords which are not only secure but easy to remember? Leave your pro tips in the comments!
